JustMe
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I'm living the dream....Herding Cats!
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« on: July 20, 2008, 11:56:07 AM » |
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Question for tortie people or anyone else who knows: Are torties usually female? Does anyone have a male tortie?
I've always heard that calicoes are usually female and that the males are usually sterile.
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catmom5
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« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2008, 12:27:07 PM » |
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I've never seen or heard of a male tortie . . . interesting question.
catmom5
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catmom5
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« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2008, 12:40:12 PM » |
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Just ran into an article that said that calicos (of which torties are a special group) are most always female and the males are sterile. (Torties are just calicos with "blended" colors rather than distinct patches. Try telling that to Sassy . . . )
Check out Ask. com (didn't get the link, sorry)
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catbird
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« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2008, 12:45:14 PM » |
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I'm a big-time tortie person! You are correct. Torties and calicos are virtually always female, because the main color genes in cats are carried on the X chromosome in the same spot. (If you remember your high school science, females are XX and males are XY.) So to have both the black and orange genes, there need to be two X chromosomes, one for each. (Oversimplification, but that is the gist of it.)
There are very rare tortie or calico males, and they are sterile because they have abnormal chromosomes. They have an extra one, and are XXY.
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If 3 of your cats were torties, you'd be crazy too.
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catbird
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« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2008, 12:48:18 PM » |
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About torties and calicos--one of the first cats to be cloned (not something I think is a good idea!) was a tortie. However, the clone kitten was a calico. Genetically identical, but one had the "mixing" of colors (tortie) and the other was patched (calico.) Very mysterious.
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If 3 of your cats were torties, you'd be crazy too.
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Mandycat
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« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2008, 01:10:14 PM » |
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Here is a very good explanation about torties and calicos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell_cat My vet called Mandy a "dilute tortie" and now I know why! Always something new to learn. Her colors are gray and cream and tan. However, I think she is actually a "torbie" as described in the article because she also has some tabby-like markings around her face and eyes, and she has some tabby-like stripe markings on her legs. The rest of her is strictly "tortie" markings. Someday I'll have to post a picture. I do not use a digital camera, but my son bought me one and I have to start learning to use it!  There are some adorable and excellent pictures of examples of torties and calicos in this article! This article says that rarely a male is born, but is sterile. I had a black cat once that had 4 kittens - 2 female torties and 2 black males. Don't know what the father was as she was a stray. Another great website for "tortie lovers"!!  http://tortiecats.free.fr/ |
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« Last Edit: July 20, 2008, 01:28:32 PM by Mandycat »
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catbird
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« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2008, 01:26:16 PM » |
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Phantom is a "dilute tortie/calico", too. Some of her colors are swirled together, some are in patches. Phantom is the cat in the front in this picture. The cat in the back, Kalahari, is a torbie.  Phantom was pregnant when she found me, and had 3 kittens. Two were males, one orange tabby and one grey, kind of like dividing up Phantom's colors. The female was a regular (not dilute) tortie--black and orange. All 3 had the same white face and feet as Phantom. (I think the female was fathered by a Himalayan that was hanging around, because she had Himmie-style fur. There was also a roaming orange tabby tom in the neighborhood, who, I suspect, fathered at least one of the other kittens.) I am anxious to hear what the colors of Sassy's kittens will be! My vet told me when Phantom was pregnant that she would bet on one baby that was grey or black. She was right! |
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« Last Edit: July 21, 2008, 06:47:40 AM by catbird »
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If 3 of your cats were torties, you'd be crazy too.
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JustMe
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I'm living the dream....Herding Cats!
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« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2008, 01:35:40 PM » |
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What is my kitty Smokey? A Torbie? She looks very much like the cat on the CatSure label? She has dark swirls on both sides of her body. http://www.petag.com/features_details.asp?ItemID=1664 |
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Mandycat
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« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2008, 01:38:40 PM » |
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Mandy's facial markings around the eyes, nose and mouth are like Kalahari's, but her over-all coloring is lighter. So, I guess I'm right that she is a "torbie". Interesting that the article says that torties and calicos are not really a breed, but rather it is just a term to describe the coloring. However, it seems to be pretty common for people to call them torties or calicos as if it were the breed, even if they don't actually mean it that way. No one says I have an "orange" or a "black" or a "white" in the same way.
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catbird
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« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2008, 01:41:34 PM » |
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However, it seems to be pretty common for people to call them torties or calicos as if it were the breed, even if they don't actually mean it that way. No one says I have an "orange" or a "black" or a "white" in the same way.
They are just very special so they have their own name. JustMe, the cat on the label you linked is definitely a torbie. If yours has orange among the striped areas like that one, she is a torbie too. |
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If 3 of your cats were torties, you'd be crazy too.
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Mandycat
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« Reply #10 on: July 20, 2008, 01:52:10 PM » |
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Just me - I was going to say "Caliby" instead of Torbie because of the white on the cat. But after looking again at the pictures on the wiki site, I'm not as sure what the distiction is. We'll just say she's a Torbie because we love them so much!  |
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catbird
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« Reply #11 on: July 20, 2008, 01:57:38 PM » |
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According to a cat show person I know, a calico has at least 1/3 white, besides the patches. She calls the ones with white feet and/or faces, like Phantom and the cat in the link, simply "tortie (or torbie if striped) with white."
I think there are different definitions depending on who you talk to, though. And I think British and American definitions may be different. In Britain, Phantom would be called "blue-cream."
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If 3 of your cats were torties, you'd be crazy too.
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trudy1
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« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2008, 02:26:43 PM » |
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I'd like to see a good picture of Her if you can get one. Torties are almost always female. As far as black, you could have a pair of black panthers, if you'd let me bring them up |
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trudy1
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« Reply #14 on: July 20, 2008, 02:28:13 PM » |
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By the way, if you have a tux with a white belly button, it always gets something special at the cat shows.
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